Our first day in Akan Mashu National Park we decided to take in some Ainu culture. We visited Lake Akan Ainu Kotan. It's a quarter in a small onsen village where Ainu have set up shops, a small museum, and a dance theater. We arrived and went window shopping through the beautiful crafts. The wood carving was amazing. There was also impressive embroidery, weaving, and art work. After some souvenir shopping we watched a dance and music performance that was really awesome. The kids were so into it they sat happily through the whole thing. Then we ate at one of the Ainu cafe's and it was so yummy: Pumpkin mochi, wild leeks, and venison. I'm still dreaming about that pumpkin mochi. And while we were walking around town, the little one took a nap.
After lunch we headed over to the Akan ECO museum, which really isn't much of a museum. Only a few fish and moss balls. I was happy to learn about the moss balls, which aparently only grow in Lake Akan and one lake in Iceland. I'm assuming that the hot-spring fed lake has something to do with it. But the moss balls were really cute. After we hiked the trail right behind the museum and enjoyed a huge area of huge lily pad like leaves (only not in water). These plants we'd seen all over this area and they really are unique and beautiful. They were huge and would really come in handy as umbrella if needed.
Continuing on the walk we had an up close encounter with some deer, which we thought was pretty cool (especially since we live in Tokyo and rarely deer or anything like it). Don't worry we maintained a good distance, and stuck to the trail. Then we made it to the final destination which was the Bokke, or boiling mud pots. Although I wouldn't decribe them as beatiful it was fun to see this natural phenomenon. They also make the most satifying splatting sounds as the bubbles pop.
We attempted to see Lake Mashu, but it was shrouded in fog. It's a deep crater lake so we only even saw the water for a brief second, and we really didn't see the lake at all. But on the way to Lake Mashu we found the most lovely green creek and had to take a picture. That night we relaxed in the onsen in our cabin and dined on 7-11. So relaxing.
We seriously loved our cabin except for one thing:no curtains. And with that early Japanese summer sunrise we were up pretty early every morning. But it got us out and going. Our scheduled boat tour was cancelled (due to high surf) so we decided to explore the neighborhood a bit more. We first visited Mt Io or Iosan. Which is similar to Hell Valley except on a mountain side and they let us walk right up to the vents (which actually made me a bit nervous). It had been mined in the past for sulfur so the sulfur was really visible and yellow. Grant loved it, of course because he was up close and personal with volcano activity. We also hiked along the nature trail there which was a relaxing stroll through the changing terain. Then we headed over to Lake Mashu hoping to catch a view of Lake Mashu. It was slightly foggy still, but we could see so much more and the fog made it seem almost magical. The longer we stayed the more the view opened up. It was really beautiful.
After we decided to visit Wantabe Dairy Farm, Kai had been talking about cows ever since our ferry ride with them. At the farm they took us on a tractor ride of the farm. We fed and milked cows (well a lot of the kids were scared to feed and milk the cows), and then we drank milk. It was a lot of fun, and perfect for Kai to experience cows.
In the afternoon we decided to check out Lake Kussharo. First we viewed it from above at Tsubetsu Observatory. The observatory itself looks like a castle and we had vast views in all directions. After we waded and played at the beach near Wakoto Penninsula at Kussharo Lake. It was fun to just be by the water. We decided to walk around the penninsula and it even had a few steam vents along the edge as well. After the walk we ended up at what we thought was a foot bath. Really just a hotspring running into the lake. It was really, really hot so we were just popping our feet in and out. When we realized that it was used as a full out door public onsen. So of course Louis descides to stare and announce to us all, "He's NAKED!" So we had a good talk about how public onsen are wonderful areas to take bath's together and relax (although they are usually divided by gender). But really this one was so lovely right out by the lake. So hopefully next time we do an onsen he may not be as shocked. We haven't really taken them to onsen before except a private onsen as a family. To be honest it took me a bit to get comfortable with the idea, now it's very relaxing for me...but I still don't want to take kids. That would kill the relaxation factor. Haha
We stopped at Noble for dinner on the way home. A one man restaurant. He took our order and made all the food and it was a hit for everyone. We were the only ones there, so it was top notch service.
Before I move on to Shiretoko museum, I just have to talk aabout the bright and fun mushrooms we saw at Akan National park. They were amazing, different and unique. Some looked like pancakes, and others were so bright and beautiful.
The next day we headed up to Shiretoko National Park. This was the area I was most excited to visit and it didn't disappoint. It was lovely. First we did the boat tour and it was absolutely stunning. Cliffs, waterfalls, and sea caves. It reminded me a bit of Napali coast in Kuai, except not tropical and a few more rocky beaches. But definately the highlight of my trip. We saw two different bears on the coast and we saw a pod of dolphin. And several eagles. It was a great trip.
After we hiked out to Furepe Falls (we'd seen it from the boat, but this time we were seeing it from above). There was a large meadow area at the edge of the cliffs which made for very dramatic views.
Then we headed over to the five lakes area to catch amazing mountain views. On the way we saw a fox trot along the road with us. At the lakes we had to take turns doing the short loop since our littles had fallen asleep in the car. But even as I rushed through the loop so my family didn't have to wait too long, I felt the peace of being in such a beautiful place.
Before heading home we wanted to go to the mountain pass. The skies were clear and we hoped for amazing views. But alas there were a few clouds at the top of the mountains right where the pass was, so our view was socked in. But we can't complain too much as the rest of the day was full of beautiful views. We did stop by the fantastic Oshinkoshin Waterfall (don't you love that name?!). We found a sushi place on our way home, but they turned us away as our kids wouldn't appreciate it (he was kind enough to give us directions to a family restaurant). The family restaurant fit the bill and we even got ice cream after. On the drive home many deer scared us as they jumped out in the road, but luckily we missed them all and made it safely back.
The next day we were packing out of our wonderful forest retreat cabin, and heading on to new adventures. Our first stop of the day was Bear Mountain. It was a bear park where they take you on a bus tour of their forested area to see the bears. They did lure the bears closer with treats they put in the ponds. So we got lots of fun views of the bears up close. Then they took us to a viewing area where we got to see two younger bears playing right up close to the window. The kids loved watching them wrestle. On the road again we drove through some really lovely landscapes. Then we also stopped at a melon farm to buy a couple melons and eat their yummy homemade melon ice cream. We finished the day pulling into our new Airbnb at Lake Toya.
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